Iranian ambassador in Moscow declares Tehran's readiness for visa-free system with Russia

MOSCOW. Aug 16 (Interfax) - Iran is ready to implement a visa-free system with Russia and related decisions of officials are pending, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kasem Jalali said in an interview published by the newspaper Izvestia on Wednesday.

"Speaking of the abolition of visas in relations between our countries, I would like to say that the Islamic Republic of Iran is fully prepared to take this step, abolish visas so that citizens of our countries could visit each other freely. Naturally, we are expecting our officials to make relevant decisions, after which the measures will be approved and put into practice," Jalali said.

For now, Russia and Iran "are at the outset of the process to implement" the agreement on visa-free travel of tourist groups, he said.

"If we want to boost travel between our countries, of course, one of the things that we need to do is establish joint airlines. The number of flights between our countries is so far limited and has to grow manifold. There is no need to limit them to Moscow and Tehran, although there are not so many flights between the capitals either," Jalali said.

Russia and Iran allowed visa-free tourist exchanges from August 1. Tourists from both countries can travel visa-free in groups of five to 50 for two weeks.